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<h1>SMPlayer - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>

<ol>
<li><a href="#smplayer_mplayer">Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are 
they? are they the same?</a></li>
<li><a href="#dvd_menus">DVD menus, where are they?</a></li>
<li><a href="#output_drivers">Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...) 
what are they? Which one is the best?</a></li>
<li><a href="#screenshot">I try to make a screenshot but the option 
is disabled, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#audio_track">I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work, 
the audio remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to 
actually change audio. Why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#shortcuts">How can I change the key shortcuts?</a></li>
<li><a href="#qt">I've read something about Qt, what's that?</a></li>
<li><a href="#codecs">With some video formats I only get audio, but not 
video. Why? Do I need some codecs?</a></li>
<li><a href="#open_quit">What's the difference between Open -> Close and 
Open -> Quit? Do they do the same?</a></li>
<li><a href="#audio_cd">How can I play an audio CD?</a></li>
<li><a href="#bookmark">Where is the bookmark?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mplayer_errors">I try to play a file but nothing happens. 
Why?</a></li>
<!--
<li><a href="#preferences_delay">When I open the preferences dialog for first 
time it takes some secs to show, why?</a></li>
-->
<li><a href="#tv">Are you going to add support for TV?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mplayer_restart">A lot of menu options make the video to go blank 
for a moment. Why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#crash">SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#playlist_problem">When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends 
SMPlayer doesn't play the next file automatically, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mplayer_recommended">What version of MPlayer is recommended?</a></li>
<li><a href="#subtitles_border">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black 
border instead of the image, how can I do it?</a></li>
<li><a href="#expand_filter">I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black 
border for ALL videos, is it possible?</a></li>
<li><a href="#monitors">(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st 
monitor but not in the 2nd, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#screensaver1">The screensaver doesn't turn off, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#volume_loud">The volume is too loud at the beginning of the 
videos, how can this be fixed?</a></li>
<li><a href="#vista">(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time 
I play a video Aero is disabled, why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#config_file">Where is the configuration file?</a></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<ol>
<li><a name="smplayer_mplayer"></a>
<b>Sometimes I read SMPlayer, others MPlayer, what are they? are they
the same?</b>
<p>
No, they are two different applications. MPlayer is a multimedia player
developed initially for linux and then ported to other OS. It's very
good, it plays almost every everything, and it has for instance a lot of
filters and so on. But most users may find it hard to use it.
<p>
Fortunately MPlayer can work together with another application (the
video window can be embedded in the other application GUI, it obeys
commands sent by the application).
So SMPlayer is just a front-end which uses MPlayer to actually play the
videos.
<p>
SMPlayer is the window you see, the menus, the preferences dialog...
(along with other things you don't see, like functions to control
MPlayer). But SMPlayer knows nothing about playing files. It doesn't
even know what a codec is.
MPlayer on the other hand, opens the files, decodes them, displays the
video and plays the audio. Subtitles are also read, parsed and displayed
on screen by MPlayer.
</li>

<li><a name="dvd_menus"></a>
<b>DVD menus, where are they?</b>
<p>
Currently SMPlayer doesn't support DVD menus... but it's under development.

Anyway, even there are no DVD menus, you can still select your desired
title, chapter, audio track, subtitles... in the SMPlayer menus.
</li>

<li><a name="output_drivers"></a>
<b>Output drivers (directx, xv, x11, gl, alsa, oss...) what are they?
Which one is the best?</b>
<p>
MPlayer has several output drivers, for video and sound. SMPlayer allows
you to select the one you want among all of them (<i>Preferences -> General
-> Video/Audio</i>).
<p>
For video it's recommended that you use xv (linux) or directx (windows).
They use hardware acceleration and give the best performance.

The inconvenience about directx for Windows Vista users is that it
disables Aero. 
<p>
x11 and directx:noaccel are drivers without hardware acceleration. They
give the worst performance. Moreover directx:noaccel gives a bad quality
in fullscreen mode.
<p>
gl and gl2 will use 3D acceleration from the graphic card. They will
give better performance than directx:noaccel and x11 but no so much as
directx or xv. gl/gl2 can be useful for Windows Vista users.
<p>
For sound, you should usually use oss or alsa in linux. I don't like esd
or arts, they use to use more CPU.
<p>
In windows the sound drivers are dsound and win32. I read that dsound
can cause sometimes audio-video sync problems. If you notice that
problem try win32 instead.
<p>
Other drivers allows you to save the video as image files or write the
sound to the disk. These drivers are not officially supported by
SMPlayer. Use them only if you know what you're doing.
</li>

<li><a name="screenshot"></a>
<b>I try to make a screenshot but the option is disabled, why?</b>
<p>
You didn't choose a folder for storing the screenshots. Do it in
<i>Preferences -> General</i>, and the screenshot option will be enabled.
</li>

<li><a name="audio_track"></a>
<b>I try to change the audio track but it doesn't work, the audio
remains the same. I have to stop the video and play it again to actually
change audio. Why?</b>
<p>
With some formats (ike mp4 or ogm), MPlayer can't change the audio track
at runtime. By unchecking the option "Fast audio track switching" 
(<i>Preferences -> Performance</i>) you'll be able to change the audio in 
those formats.
</li>

<li><a name="shortcuts"></a>
<b>How can I change the key shortcuts?</b>
<p>
<i>Preferences -> Keyboard and mouse</i>. You'll be able to change most key 
shortcuts.
</li>

<li><a name="qt"></a>
<b>I've read something about Qt, what's that?</b>
<p>
SMPlayer is being developed by using Qt, which is a C++ library that
allows cross-platform development. The same source code can be compiled
on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.  
More info: 
<a href="http://trolltech.com/products/qt">http://trolltech.com/products/qt</a>
</li>

<li><a name="codecs"></a>
<b>With some video formats I only get audio, but not video. Why? Do
I need some codecs?</b>
<p>
MPlayer can player most common formats "out of the box". But for codecs
that haven't been yet implemented natively, it's necessary to install a
package with binary codecs. You can get it from the
<a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html">MPlayer download
page</a>.
<p> 
On Windows, install the codecs in the mplayer/codecs subdirectory.
On linux distros the package may be available as a regular package,
maybe with the name of w32codecs or something like that.
</li>

<li><a name="open_quit"></a>
<b>What's the difference between <i>Open -> Close</i> and <i>Open -> Quit</i>? 
Do they do the same?</b>
<p>
If the option "Show icon in system tray" (in menu Options) is not
checked, then yes, the two options do the same: quit the application.
<p>
But if that option is enabled, then <i>Open -> Close</i> will just hide the
application (and stop the current file), but SMPlayer is still running.
<i>Open -> Quit</i> really quits the application, no matter if the system tray
icon is enabled or not.
</li>

<li><a name="audio_cd"></a>
<b>How can I play an audio CD?</b>
<p>
Support for audio CDs was added in version 0.5.18.
<p>
Under Windows it's not possible to play audio CDs yet.
</li>

<li><a name="bookmark"></a>
<b>Where is the bookmark?</b>
<p>
Not implemented yet.
</li>

<li><a name="mplayer_errors"></a>
<b>I try to play a file but nothing happens. Why?</b>
<p>
Probably MPlayer couldn't play the file. Open the mplayer log
(<i>Options -> View logs -> MPlayer</i>), you'll probably find an error message 
in the latest lines.
<p>
On Windows is quite common that some MPlayer builds fail because they
have been compiled with no support for some feature that SMPlayer tries
to use. The error message could give you a clue. If it complains about
cache, try disabling the cache in <i>Preferences -> Performance</i>. If it
complains about fontconfig try to use a ttf font instead of a system
font.
</li>

<!--
<li><a name="preferences_delay"></a>
<b>When I open the preferences dialog for first time it takes some
secs to show, why?</b>
<p>
In that moment SMPlayer calls MPlayer to get some info from it (the
output drivers, for instance). It happens the same with <i>Options -> View
info and properties</i>.
</li>
-->

<li><a name="tv"></a>
<b>Are you going to add support for TV?</b>
<p>
That would be nice, but TV support is not planned for now. Currently 
I don't have a TV card, so I can't implement it.
</li>

<li><a name="mplayer_restart"></a>
<b>A lot of menu options make the video to go blank for a moment.
Why?</b>
<p>
Some options require to stop the MPlayer process and start it again with
new parameters. That's why playing interrupts for a moment.
</li>

<li><a name="crash"></a>
<b>SMPlayer crashed, but the audio didn't stop, why?</b>
<p>
SMPlayer crashed, but MPlayer is still running. Kill the MPlayer process
in the task manager.
<p>
Anyway if SMPlayer crashes, it's a serious bug that should be fixed.
Report it.
</li>

<li><a name="playlist_problem"></a>
<b>When I'm playing a playlist, when a file ends SMPlayer doesn't
play the next file automatically, why?</b>
<p>
Be sure you're using at least SMPlayer 0.6.5 and MPlayer SVN r28066.
</li>

<li><a name="mplayer_recommended"></a>
<b>What version of MPlayer is recommended?</b>
<p>
I recommend to use at least MPlayer SVN r25843 (from 2008-01-23), although
a recent version from SVN would be better.
<p>
SMPlayer will try its best to work with older versions, but some options
may not work.
</li>

<li><a name="subtitles_border"></a>
<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border instead
of the image, how can I do it?</b>
<p>
<i>Video filters -> Add black borders</i>
</li>

<li><a name="expand_filter"></a>
<b>I want the subtitles to be displayed on the black border for ALL 
videos, is it possible?</b>
<p>
You can add a video filter like  
<b>expand=:::::4/3</b> in <i>Preferences -> Advanced -> Options for MPlayer</i>.
<p>Other possibilities: 
<ul>
<li>check <b>Add black borders on fullscreen</b> in 
<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i></li>
<li>Add <b>add_letterbox true</b> in actions list field in 
<i>Preferences -> Advanced</i></li>
</ul>
</li>

<li><a name="monitors"></a>
<b>(Windows) The video is displayed only in the 1st monitor but not in the
2nd, why?</b>
<p>
When you use <i>directx</i> as video driver 
(<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i>) the video can only be displayed on 
one monitor. If you use instead <i>gl</i>, <i>gl2</i> or <i>direct3d</i> 
the video will be displayed in any monitor.
<p>
Anyway if you prefer to use <i>directx</i> you can choose the screen which
will be display the video in the menu <i>Video -> Screen</i>.
</li>

<li><a name="screensaver1"></a>
<b>The screensaver doesn't turn off, why?</b>
<p>
If you use a recent version of MPlayer you may need to add a line like this
in your ~/.mplayer/config:
<p>
(gnome) 
<pre>heartbeat-cmd="gnome-screensaver-command -p &>/dev/null"</pre>
<p>
(kde)
<pre>heartbeat-cmd="dcop kdesktop KScreensaverIface enable false &>/dev/null && dcop kdesktop KScreensaverIface enable true &>/dev/null"</pre>

<p>Please take a look at the MPlayer manpage for more info.
</li>

<li><a name="volume_loud"></a>
<b>The volume is too loud at the beginning of the videos, how can this
be fixed?</b>
<p>
Check the option <i>Change volume just before playing</i> in 
<i>Preferences -> General -> Audio</i>.
<p>
This option requires at least MPlayer SVN r27872.
</li>

<li><a name="vista"></a>
<b>(Windows) I'm using Windows Vista and every time I play a video Aero
is disabled, why?</b>
<p>
This happens when you're using <i>directx</i> as video driver 
(<i>Preferences -> General -> Video</i>). You can change it to <i>gl</i>, 
<i>gl2</i> or <i>direct3d</i>.
</li>

<li><a name="config_file"></a>
<b>Where is the configuration file?</b>
<p>
SMPlayer uses two <i>ini</i> files: smplayer.ini and smplayer_files.ini.
Both are stored by default in <i>$HOME/.config/smplayer</i> (Linux) or
<i>C:\Documents and Settings\your_username\.smplayer</i> (Windows XP).
<p>
You can also see it in the SMPlayer log (<i>Options -> View logs</i>), look
for a line like this:
<pre>
 * ini path: '/home/ricardo/.config/smplayer'
</pre>
<i>smplayer.ini</i> stores the SMPlayer configuration while 
<i>smplayer_files.ini</i> stores the settings of the files you have played.
</li>

</ol>

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